KALAMAZOO — The Bootland brothers will be once again reunited on the ice after forward Darryl Bootland re-signed with the Kalamazoo Wings for the upcoming ECHL season.

Coach Nick Bootland’s younger brother is one of three player signings announced Thursday.

The other two are forwards Brandon Svendsen and Dean Strong.

Dean Strong

Darryl Bootland was with the K-Wings two years ago, but left midseason to play in Vienna.

This time, he says he won’t bolt.

“At this time of my career, I don’t want to be moving around a lot because now I have a beautiful wife, Sarah, and a son, Trace,” he said.

Brandon Svendsen

“I regret leaving (the last time). It was definitely a blow to the team. I came back and watched the playoffs and saw what I had done (the K-Wings lost in the first round to the Reading Royals).”

Nick Bootland said his brother is the type of player he’s been looking for.

“He has grit, toughness and physicality and he also plays the game,” the coach said.

The forward had nine goals and 19 assists in 25 games with the K-Wings. He’s spent most of his career in the AHL with some callups to the NHL.

Last season, he was with the CHL’s Odessa (Texas) Jackalopes.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity of playing under Nick again,” he said. “I enjoyed going to the rink every day (when I was here before), which hasn’t happened the last couple years.”

Svendsen said he’s returning to Kalamazoo because he sees a lot of success in the team’s future.

“This is a great organization and Nick does a wonderful job as a head coach,” Svendsen said. “They really treat their players well.”

Last season, Svendsen split time between the K-Wings (7 goals, 9 assists in 10 games) and the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

In the ECHL playoffs, he had 5 goals and 7 assists in 19 games.

“Nick is a good mentor and does a good job promoting players and helping them get to the AHL,” Svendsen said.

“Brandon’s played 100-plus games (130) in the AHL,” Bootland said. “We were fortunate to have him back for the postseason. He’s a dynamic skater.”

Strong joined the K-Wings toward the end of last season after playing most of the year in Germany.

He had seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in six regular-season games and 14 (7-7) in 15 playoff games.

Starting his third pro season, Strong also played his rookie year with the K-Wings.

“He’s a character player who plays bigger than he is (5-foot-8, 180 pounds),” Bootland said.

“He’s well-conditioned and a leader who’s not afraid to stick up for his teammates.”

Those three bring the K-Wings signings to seven, including defenseman Sam Ftorek and forwards Kory Karlander, Trent Daavettila and Justin Taylor.

Forward Darryl Lloyd, voted by the fans as the team’s most popular player last year, has signed with the Stena Line Belfast Giants in Ireland.

At the end of last season, Lloyd said he was exploring his options in Europe, but the K-Wings still extended a qualifying offer to him with a 5 percent raise in case he opted to stay stateside.

“Lloydie told me he was considering Europe,” Bootland said. “He kept the K-Wings in the loop and was very professional the whole time.”

The K-Wings open the regular season at home Oct. 15 against the Cincinnati Cyclones.They have two preseason games, both with the Toledo Walleye, Oct. 7 at Wings Stadium (all tickets $5) and Oct. 8 at Toledo.